A man suspected of being Alvaro Flores was arrested overnight in Stuart by detectives with the Martin County Sheriff's Office and Chicago Police Department. Investigators said he's the man wanted for stabbing his girlfriend to death in their Chicago apartment in 1978.

U.S. Marshals said Flores was hiding and living in Stuart under the fake name Adan Garcia for decades. However, the suspect's defense attorney said he is a different person from Guatemala.

"(Mr. Garcia) has never been to Illinois," defense attorney Bob Watson said.

Authorities were first alerted in 2000, when the murder suspect was fingerprinted for a gun permit application in Martin County and his fingerprints allegedly matched those left at the old crime scene. Illinois prosecutors decided not to extradite him and released him because of a lack of evidence.

"We understand that it's a very partial fingerprint," Watson said. "Of course, we're going to do our own analysis on it."

Fast-forward 15 years, and he has been arrested again in the Chicago murder. His defense attorney is fighting extradition. The process could take several months. In the meantime, the suspect will sit behind bars at the Martin County Jail.

Chicago investigators alleged Flores stabbed his girlfriend to death because she wanted to move back in with her husband.

Neighbors said the alleged fugitive's family kept to themselves on Clayton Street and ran a Mexican restaurant up the street.

"They don't really associate with anybody, other than when we go up to the restaurant once in a while," a neighbor said. "I've seen the police over there a time or two, nothing serious though."